The Kremlin denied Putin received distorted data on the economy

Russian President Vladimir Putin regularly receives reports on the state of the Russian economy, allegations that the information in them is distorted are incorrect, spokesman for the head of state Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times.

“Any claims that he is receiving distorted information are incorrect. He has all the information, he has meetings of the economic cabinet almost every week,” said Peskov.

According to the authors of the article, citing sources, there are discussions among Russian politicians about the possibility of declassifying more data. In particular, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, calls for this. The secret data, writes the FT, includes information on foreign exchange reserves and export figures.

“The lack of transparency in statistics creates problems even for those inside the system,” a Russian Central Bank official told the newspaper.

At the same time, Peskov said that a “hybrid war, including an economic one,” is being waged against Moscow, so it’s natural that some data is classified.

“Everyone who needs to know, everyone involved in the economic policy making process has access to the full range of data, statistics and so on,” the Kremlin said.

On July 6, 2022, the State Duma adopted a government law that introduces the concept of counter-sanctions information and limits its distribution to an indefinite circle of people using the media or the Internet. Such information means information about already completed or just planned transactions of any persons participating in the foreign trade activities of the Russian Federation, the dissemination of which may lead to the imposition of sanctions that affect the Russian market.

The need for amendments in the State Duma was explained by the need to “protect [от санкций] participants in the process, who are now looking for new supply chains, are making efforts to make up for a possible shortage of goods in Russia.” According to Art. 13.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for the disclosure of information with restricted access, which includes counter-sanction data, citizens face a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles, and legal entities – from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles.